Have a great weekend everyone – hopefully you’re expecting a little bit of a warm-up (we are here – thank goodness)! See you next week – and remember that you still have to show up at least 15 minutes early to get a bike this time of year!

Many thanks to Lola for taking the time to feature me on her blog – and, oddly enough, she just happened to post the interview last Tuesday (clearly life has been a little crazy lately if I’m just getting around to sharing the link now) … which was also my 33rd birthday! Hope you have a chance to check it out and see what she’s been up to as well!

Have a great weekend – and try to stay warm! They’re talking the dirty s word here again tomorrow, which is not okay…we already had to reschedule plans from my real birthday (which was Tuesday) to this weekend due to snow, and I don’t want to have to do it again! See y’all next week!

I’ve been fighting one thing or another (cold, sinus infection, whatever it’s morphed into now) pretty much since Christmas. It started with a tickle in my throat on Christmas morning, which I assumed was a result of my parents’ dry house, and those terrible incense they spread around at Midnight Mass. By that weekend, I had no voice. And by New Year’s, I was sniffling and sneezing. There were a few good days in there somewhere, and then last Monday, the sinus headache creeped in. Tuesday, I felt like death might be a good option. Finally, by Thursday, I thought I was in the clear. Friday, I woke up with a case of laryngitis that was definitely worse than the one I’d been through a few weeks earlier (I still sound like a frog who has spent the last 40 years chain smoking).

Which brings me to my question of the day: how can you teach if you can’t talk?

In another case of “make it work,” I found out yesterday. I was squeaking out little more than a whisper most of Saturday and Sunday, so let’s say that making through one class would have been tough enough. Yet I forced myself to make it through two.

It kind of puts into perspective how difficult it can be to do something that normally comes so easy. It was torture to not only bring the same sense of excitement that I like to bring to my classes. But at the same time, it was so nice to see some of my regulars take charge, help me out with the counts, or demonstrate something as I tried mightily – and unsuccessfully – to vocalize.

The one thing I really feared the most – even more than not being able to get the class to do what I wanted with some hand gestures and a squeak – was that people would leave, or tell me that it was terrible. A couple people left, but I’m used to one or two walking out before the end of class on any given day (heck, half the time I look up from my final stretches at the end of my cycle class, and the studio that had been full 10 minutes earlier is only at quarter-capacity). For the most part, people were very understanding. I got a lot of well-wishes on my way out the door. And though I know that I was certainly up to the standard I’d like to be during class, I was proud of myself for making it through.

My voice, however? I probably did some kind of irreversible damage to my vocal cords by pushing instead of resting them. But as any instructor will tell you – you do what you have to do sometimes!

Happy Thursday everyone! Glad we’ve made it out of the big freeze … although this crazy weather last week kept me fighting a sinus infection most of this week. Good news is it’s about out of my system, and we were still rocking tonight.

I love people watching. I always have. One of my favorite classes in college was an interpersonal communication class, in which the teacher sent us out one day with instructions to watch people – and then report back the next class (I’m pretty sure we were looking for something specific, but it’s been like 12 years, so give me a break). The gym can be a great place to people watch – for numerous reasons. And it tends to be even better in January.

Tonight’s post was inspired by the girl I witnessed doing something that looked like a cross between the Chicken Dance and jumping jacks. Now, I’ve taken a lot of classes (and taught a lot of classes) that required me to do some odd thing from time to time. But in the middle of the gym? Not usually. Which got me thinking about some of the top “what are they thinking?” moments I’ve encountered throughout the years.

Cirque du Soleil. Now that football and pool season is behind us, I’m not getting to the gym quite as early on Saturday mornings … but for a while there, I’d get a (people-watching) treat on my way out. There were three people who, for some unknown reason, would practice what I can only describe as Cirque du Soleil … in the middle of the cardio floor. Not in a studio, not even in a somewhat less-traveled space, but right in front of the escalators to the cardio floor. Weird.

Old Lady REALLY Likes Her Weights. This one dates all the way back to my Clemson old bookstore while the real gym is under renovation days. This woman enjoyed lifting weights. REALLY enjoyed lifting her weights (think Meg Ryan in “When Harry Met Sally”). It was uncomfortable to be around. I may still have nightmares.

Competition Prep. I get that fitness competitions require participants to strut around in a couple sequins and sky-high heels that would make a stripper blush. But do you really need to “practice” (strut around) the gym floor? At least go into a studio. And please… keep the lights dim. Because I can’t decide if I want my body to look like yours or I want to give you my sweatshirt.

Overzealous exercisers. Yesterday morning, I saw a guy I actually feared would fly off of the elliptical he was working – at about 100 miles an hour. Here’s the thing … the resistance is adjustable on those things. You’re going to get more out of it if you slow it down and add some resistance.

Sweaty twins. For a while there, I thought there was only one of them … but they are in fact two. These girls spend at least an hour on the stepmill, going pretty quickly, and sweating EVERYWHERE. Never a towel in sight. Wearing long sleeves. Mind you, these girls are extremely thin. There is no reason they need to be working that hard or losing any extra water weight.

So … what have you seen around the gym? Is January your favorite people watching time, with all the Resolutioners running (or panting, or wandering confusedly) around the gym?

Have a great weekend everyone – hopefully you’re starting to thaw after this freezing week! See you next Thursday – remember, you’re going to want to be to class at least 15 minutes early if you’re going to claim a bike – it’s feeling like January!